DENVERs- Fresno State earned its second bid to the NCAA Women?™s Soccer Tournament, taking home the 2005 WAC Tournament crown. The Bulldogs will take on second-seeded Santa Clara in Santa Clara, Calif., in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. The first rounds will be played Friday, Nov. 11. Fresno State (10-9-2), which was led by Tournament MVP Kortney Lewis, knocked off San Jose State 1-0 to claim the automatic bid. The Bulldogs are in their first NCAA Tournament since 1999, when they fell in the first round to Cal Poly.
NCAA Tournament Bracket
Fresno State stays in state to face its first round opponent, taking on Santa Clara, the nation?™s sixth ranked team in the NSCAA/adidas poll. The two teams met earlier in the season, with the Broncos earning a, 2-0, win. The Broncos finished their season 14-4-2 and second in the West Coast Conference. The winner will take on the winner of Stanford and St. Louis, Sunday, Nov. 13.
Led by second-year head coach Steve Springthorpe, the Bulldogs had five all-WAC selections, including four first-team selections and WAC Defensive Player of the of the Year, Rochelle Jagdeo. With the outstanding play of Lewis, Antonea Lugo and Cortney Sobrero in the WAC Tournament, the Bulldogs have won four straight matches en route to their first WAC Tournament title. As the No. 5 seed, they were the lowest to ever be crowned WAC Champions.
The first rounds are held on campus sites yet to be determined. The semifinals and championship will be held at the Aggie Soccer Complex in College Station, Texas, hosted by Texas A&M, December 2 and 4.
The Western Athletic Conference is 12-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, while current teams are 0-2. Fresno State has a 0-1 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament.
1999 - Cal Poly; L, 2-1
2005 - vs. Santa Clara; Santa Clara, Calif.
San Francisco/Stanford; Santa Clara, Calif.
For more information on WAC soccer and to follow Fresno State throughout the NCAA Tournament, please visit wacsports.com. For complete College Cup coverage, visit http://www.aggieathletics.com/specialsites/2005collegecup/index.php.